Jamshedpur, Jan. 10: In what was a first-of-its kind Walkathon held in the Steel City, people from all walks of life – MLA, Superintendent Police (City), Sporting luminaries, Industry members, Street food vendors, College and School students, Senior Citizens and differently abled students joined an estimated 2500-strong Jamshedpur Walkathon – Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan organised by CII , FACE and its� National Industry partners Cargill India , multistakeholder National Partners VOICE and NASVI along with YI, ITC, Pepsico, Active Gold, Honey Honey here today to Walk for the cause: Safe and Hygienic Food for All.
RJ Prasun anchored the show. Not only did they wholeheartedly endorse the Walkathon, which began at XLRI Ground in the morning, they also made a solemn pledge of supporting the initiative of promoting safe and hygienic food.
Mr Chandan Kumar Jha, Superintendent of Police (City), Jamshedpur, praised CII for organizing the Walkathon and said such awareness programmes need to be organized at regular intervals to generate greater awareness about the need for consuming safe and hygienic food, and also implementation of food safety practices at all levels.
The participants came from Eight colleges, Jeevika, School of Hope, Thirty two Schools, 200 street food vendors of NASVI, performers of VOICE, industries like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Jamipol, Metaldyne along with civilians, FM Dhoom and cultural groups participated in the Walk.
The Jamshedpur Walkathon was marked by the parallel session on Food Safety Training of 60 Street Food Vendors. For cascading Food Safety knowledge to school children through interactive activities a Sit & Draw competition with 140 school children was also organised as a parallel forum at the Walkathon venue, the XLRI Grounds of Jamshedpur.
One of the catchy slogans articulated by a school student on Prevention of Food Borne illness with Safe Food was � Swaach Khana Khao, Roj School Jao�.
The Walkathon program comprised several thematic Food Safety skits by Consumer VOICE and NASVI , Tribal Dance performances by Kala Mandir and music performance by the students of Jamshedpur Women�s College. Some of the other key activities associated with the Jamshedpur Safe Food Walkathon was a photography competitions on food safety in colleges and schools as a precursor to the Walkathon.
Anand Sen vice-president TQM & Steel Business ,Tata Steel Ltd emphasized that Jamshedpur being chosen to host the progarmme on Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan reaffirms the fact that safe and healthy food will ensure a healthy life, he also congratulated CII on their sustained commitment on food safety.
A.B.Lall Vice Chairman CII Jharkhand said �that this is a welcome step in the direction of food safety and hygiene and that day�s walkathon will act as a catalyst to improve food safety awareness in the country as well as drive the agenda of �safe food as everyone�s right� through the Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan.�
Among the notable personalities who joined the Jamshedpur Walkathon were Mr Laxman Tudu, MLA, Ghatsila, Mr Chandan Kumar Jha, Superintendent of Police (City), Jamshedpur, Ms Aruna Mishra, Olympian Boxer, Mr Anand Sen, President, TQM & Steel Business, Tata Steel Ltd, Mr A B Lall, Vice Chairman, CII Jharkhand, Mr Ashim Sanyal, Chief Operating Officer, VOICE, Mr A K Srivastava, Convener, CII Jharkhand, MSME Panel & President, Citizen Forum and Mr Tapas Sahu, Co-Chairman CII YI, Jharkhand along with scores of industry members.